US President Donald Trump will come to India later this month, the White House announced today, ending weeks of speculation. Government of India has said that Trump’s visit to India will further enhance the strategic partnership between India and US.
The White House in a Twitter post published, “President @realDonaldTrump & @FLOTUS will travel to India from February 24-25 to visit Prime Minister @narendramodi! The trip will further strengthen the US-India strategic partnership & highlight the strong & enduring bonds between the American & Indian people.”
Trump will be the fourth consecutive US President to visit India starting from Bill Clinton in 2000, George Bush in 2006, and Barack Obama in 2010 and 2015. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had for the first time in June 2017 extended invitation to Trump to visit India. India also invited him to be the chief guest for Republic Day last year which didn’t materialize.
Former Indian ambassador to the US, Arun K Singh said that Trump’s decision shows that India occupies an important place in his scheme of things.
The White House announcement has come in wake of Trump winning an impeachment case against him in the US Senate last week. “President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will visit India on February 24 – 25, 2020," the White House later said in a statement. The President will visit New Delhi and Ahmedabad which is PM Modi’s home state.
President Trump will attend official engagements in New Delhi and Ahmedabad and interact with a wide cross section of Indian society indicating a public event on the lines of “Howdy Modi” in Houston which brought in a reported 50,000 people and Trump himself, could take place in the Gujarat leg of the visit.
